


It's Just Coffee

by HedonistInk



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, Drunkenness, First Meetings, Gay Bar, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 15:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8922976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedonistInk/pseuds/HedonistInk
Summary: "Seriously… Are you sure you're okay? If you want I'll buy you a coffee or something just to help you sober up a little.""M'not a complete idiot. I know what 'coffee' means, okay. It's the 'size up the guy you met on Grindr before taking this back to your place' move. But I'm laying it out there right now, that's not happening. I might dress like a slut to get free drinks and flirt a lot but I'm not just gonna go home with some guy. I don't do that."Or: In which Shiro decides to go out for once, Lance gets kicked out of a club after accusing one of the VIPs of trying to spike his drink, and coffee is really just coffee.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AichiKun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AichiKun/gifts).



> For spacelions, my giftee for the Shance Secret Santa Exchange on tumblr! As always, comments and kudos are appreciated and loved!

"I freaking told you why I did it! He spiked that crap!" A slim man with warm brown hair thrashed in the grip of the large, hulking bouncer who was leading him out of the club by the scruff of the neck as though he were a kitten weighing barely anything. His limbs seemed to flop as though they were barely attached as he flailed. 

Shiro's brows raised as he stood in line, curiosity and concern rising immediately. Spiked drinks? At a place like this? His gaze flicked back to the building appraisingly before settling on the commotion again. 

"Sir… I've told you. You can't make accusations like that about our patrons." The bouncer's tne was firm. "Particularly not our VIPs. And since no one else can back up your claims and you accosted the man with your drink… I'm going to have to ask you to leave." 

An accusation like that and they weren't even looking into it? Instead, they were just kicking the guy who claimed to be the victim out? VIP or not, people could do some terrible things when they thought they could get away with it. Shiro knew that well enough.

"I don't--let go!--I don't feel very 'asked', you giant hairball. And I dun care what anyone else saw. I know what I saw! Jus' fucking test it!" The man's words slurred slightly as he spoke. Shiro hadn't noticed it before but the bulky man was rather on the hairy side, arms coated in a thick coat of it and tight, stiff-looking hair trimmed up into a style that could only make Shiro think of some poor Wolverine impersonation. The slim figure in the larger man's grasp was slim, bordering on willowy with limbs that seemed almost model-like in their length. His warm, tawny skin glistened with the slightest sheen of sweat that seemed out of place in the cool night air but would probably have made perfect sense in the pulsing heat of the club he was being dragged from.

Depositing the thrashing bundle of limbs onto the sidewalk, the large man turned and headed back into the club with nothing more than a slight nod at his co-worker manning the door.

But Shiro's focus wasn't on him. No, his focus was on the skinny guy stumbling slightly on the sidewalk. He was obviously already drunk or at least well into the 'tipsy' range. Shiro could practically feel a few of the others in line vibrating while staring at the slim figure. Even Shiro couldn't help his gaze wandering along toned thighs exposed by obscenely short and unseasonable shorts. No, someone was definitely going to try to take advantage of this guy if he left him to his own devices.

"YEAH? WELL FUHK YOU TOO, BUDDY!" The man wheeled around on his heels as he yelled, staggering forward a few steps only to stumble on the sidewalk and wind up careening right into Shiro. Into Shiro's chest specifically. The man wound up with one hand on either side of Shiro's chest and Shiro swore he could feel two squeezes before the guy looked up at him. "Oooh~" The shorter man practically purred. "Talk about th' total package, huh?"

Shiro ignored the awful flirting, brows drawing down with concern. "Are… you okay? Do you need some help or something?"

The guy seemed legitimately confused and almost offended by the offer. "Huh…? M'fine." He shoved away from Shiro then, stumbling back a bit but through some combination of hip jerks and flailing arms managing to catch himself--if only barely.

Shiro debated for a moment before ducking out of line as the man started to stagger down the street. "Seriously… Are you sure you're okay? If you want I'll buy you a coffee or something just to help you sober up a little."

The stranger jolted slightly at the sound of his voice before scoffing. "I told you. M'just freakin' peachy considering some jerkoff jus' tried to pull one over on me. Offerin' to buy me a drink n' then putting something in it. And now there's some weird hot guy following me tryin' t'ask me shit. Well guess what, Weird Hot Guy, I know that all of this," he gestured to himself, stumbling a bit more in the process, "is a lot to resist. But m'not that drunk so you can jus' go get to know your hand better or somethin’."

Shiro's lips had to quirk up slightly at being nicknamed 'Weird Hot Guy'. The stranger had sass. But he still didn't trust letting anyone walk around that drunk in this part of the city at night. It just wasn't  _ safe. _ "Shiro. It's Shiro. And please… Just coffee and some water so you can get your head on straight. There's a 24-hour coffee shop right at the end of this block. I don't want to see news about you getting mugged on TV in the morning. Please?"

The man stopped and turned to squint at him briefly. "Yer not gonna give up until I agree to this…"

Shiro shook his head earnestly. "Tell me to go away and I'll leave you to it. No questions or complaints. I'll turn around right now. But it would make me feel a lot better?" He tilted his head with a soft smile that Keith had yelled at him for in the past for being 'a goddamn puppy dog smile'.

It seemed to be working, judging by the way the gangly man paused and frowned at him, opening and shutting his mouth a few times before huffing. "Fine. But  _ just _ coffee. Not ' _ coffee _ '," the man insisted, accenting his words with over-acted air quotes. "Got that, Weird Hot Guy?"

Blinking, Shiro tilted his head. "Well… yeah? Coffee. That's what I said, isn't it?" He really wasn't sure what the guy was getting at with the double-implication. Coffee was just… coffee. Wasn't it? 

Shrugging it off, Shiro started walking again, heading into the little coffee shop a few doors down with the slim figure tottering along the sidewalk and into the shop after him. Stepping up to the counter of the empty shop, Shiro offered a polite greeting to the employee, ignoring the way they frowned at the drunk man's state. "Can I get a small pumpkin spice latte and two bottles of water? And for my friend here…" Shiro turned, gesturing for the stranger beside him to speak up.

The shorter man squinted at Shiro curiously before frowning up at the menu. "Mocha. Large. With... uhm… caramel syrup," he decided, nodding to himself in apparent confirmation of his own decision.

Shiro waited for the employee to punch in their orders before digging out a twenty and offering it over, waving off the change. It was late, the shop was empty aside from them, and the worker was definitely underpaid. He could afford to tip a bit heavy. With a thankful smile, they were told to go sit down to wait for their drinks and Shiro grabbed the two waters before heading for two plush armchairs separated by a small table. It seemed appropriately casual. He offered over one bottle of water. When the other man went to reach for it but hesitated, Shiro rolled his eyes. "It's still sealed, okay? Check it yourself. Just drink up, okay?"

Seeming to debate for a moment, the man reached over, taking the bottle and listening to it closely as he cracked the seal. Seemingly satisfied, he grinned and took a few large sips of the bottle before closing it again. Shiro set the other bottle onto the table between them before sitting back in his seat, crossing one leg over the opposite knee and folding his hands in his lap for lack of anything better to do with them. "So… do you… have a name?"

"Mamá gave me one when I was born, yep," the man replied, popping the  _ p _ at the end of the 'yep'. 

Shiro frowned at the answer. "What I meant was… could you please tell me your name? I told you mine."

The man huffed before flopping back in his seat, gangly limbs spreading in all directions, knees flopping out and arms sprawling over the armrests. Shiro couldn't help his gaze flicking down momentarily to the exposed spans of smooth-looking inner thighs. 

"Lance. N' my eyes are up here, buddy." 

Blushing, Shiro's gaze snapped up as he started to stammer out an apology but the appearance of the barista cut him off. Taking his drink, Shiro muttered his thanks. 

Lance, on the other hand, reached out before pausing, frowning at the cup. "He din' tell you t' put anything weird in this, right? And he hasn' touched it?" 

The barista seemed bewildered and looked at Shiro in shock while stammering out a negative reply. Shiro only shrugged as if he had no idea why Lance would think that either. If Shiro hadn't known about what happened earlier, he would have been offended. He was still slightly offended at the implication being put on him, but at least it seemed somewhat justified with the way Lance's evening had gone up until that point, apparently.

Lance took the cup before taking a tentative and suspicious sip of his coffee and then another. Giving a small nod, he settled back into his seat and the barista seemed to take that as a cue to leave. Shiro was glad he'd at least given a big tip. 

Shiro didn't protest the silence at first. He was content with just watching Lance, trying to figure him out. Lance, on the other hand, downed half his drink before flopping down over the table. He seemed satisfied by trying to find the answers to all the mysteries of the universe in the cardboard wrap around his coffee cup as he picked at it idly. To each their own, he supposed. 

Still, it at least gave Shiro a chance to occasionally steal glances at the other man, taking in his features, from his soft-looking, auburn hair that Shiro vaguely wanted to feel between his fingers to his bright but slightly glazed-over blue eyes. Shiro spoke up after a few more minutes, asking idle questions and offering up equally idle facts or observations, trying to get the man across from him to at least relax slightly. It seemed to be working, albeit slowly. At least, until Lance decided to throw him another curveball. 

"Look," Lance slapped his hands on the table--making Shiro jolt in the process--and sat up after what had to have been half an hour of one-sided questions from Shiro that only earned two or three word answers. "M'not a complete idiot, Shiro. I know what 'coffee' means, okay. It's the 'size up the guy you met on Grindr before taking this back to your place' move. But I'm laying it out there right now, that's not happening. I might dress like a slut to get free drinks and flirt a lot but I'm not just gonna go home with some guy. I don't  _ do _ that."

Shiro's jaw dropped as he gaped at Lance, nearly dropping his drink.  _ That _ was what he thought Shiro meant? "E-excuse me? I didn't-- I don't-- I just meant coffee, honest! That's all. Just… Just coffee. Not… anything else. I'm just trying to make conversation. Before… you were really staggering along and I was worried you were going to get mugged or something walking around here like that so late at night so I figured I'd keep you company while you sober up a little and then we could go our separate ways."

Lance stared at him, blinking curiously and leaning forward in his seat as if inspecting him. "There's no way a guy as hot as you is that nice." Lance shook his head as he finally reached his conclusion, waving a hand dismissively. "Nice hot guys don't exist. There's no way you left that line just to help some stranger out."

Shiro sighed, shaking his head and sipping at his cooling drink. "I don't know what to tell you then, Lance. I guess I'm a figment of your imagination because I really don't have any intentions of making this into anything other than a casual cup of late-night coffee. And as for the club, I could honestly care less. I just wanted something to do with my evening rather than sitting in my apartment. But quiet conversation over coffee is really more my speed than all of that noise and thrumming chaos anyway."

Lance's eyes narrowed seemed to contemplate that for a few long minutes, sipping at his drink before shrugging. After a short while of silence, Lance decided to ask his own question, prodding at Shiro's choice of drink. "So… pumpkin spice? Isn't that a little… cliche?" 

Blinking in surprise at being asked  _ anything _ in return, Shiro chuckled, shoulders jerking in a small shrug. "I… like food-flavoured drinks? I'm… kind of a dismal cook so it's the closest I get to this stuff short of buying it from the store already made," Shiro replied almost bashfully. The laugh that he earned in return for his answer felt like a real achievement. It brought a smile to his face watching Lance shaking his head with a stifled smile of his own. 

"That's kind of tragic," Lance replied, sipping at his drink. 

"Some people are a little tragic," Shiro said with a shrug. 

The conversation went easier after that. It seemed like Lance had decided Shiro wasn't any kind of a threat. He started asking questions of his own, offering up tidbits about himself. Shiro learned that Lance was twenty-two--three years younger than himself--and had two younger sisters. He worked as a lifeguard at one of the local pools, part time during the school year and full time during the summer--entirely side-tracking Shiro's thoughts to wondering what was under the other man's shirt. Lance lived with his parents--unlike Shiro who had split a two-bedroom apartment with Keith for the last few years. That had spiraled into its own topic about who Keith was to Shiro, Lance inquiring with an intensity and cautious curiosity that almost seemed like he was interested in him. Their tastes in entertainment couldn't have been more different but one thing they could both agree on was the value of really terrible, cheesy horror movies. That and a fondness for takeout. Overall, talking to Lance was… it was  _ nice. _ Genuinely nice in a way Shiro wasn't used to.  

When Lance forewent the cup in favour of downing the other half of the first bottle of water after a while longer of subdued question-swapping and a few interspersed minutes of silence, Shiro decided to prod at a more pertinent topic. "So… What did happen back there? You were yelling something about some guy trying to slip you something? That big guy didn't exactly seem pleased, whatever it was."

Lance crinkled the bottle slightly in his hand, the sound loud in the nearly-empty shop. "Yeah… well, fuck him. He shouldn't be happy." Lance at least sounded sober now, the slight slur having disappeared from his voice over the last hour or so since they'd arrived. It had to have been near midnight. "I'd bet my left foot that hairy guy who hauled me out and the jerk who dumped stuff in my drink were working together. They both had that never-seen-a-razor hairy thing going on." 

"But… forgive me for prying… What… exactly happened?" Shiro pressed. Sure the place could come across a bit seedy, most gay-centric clubs in the area could, and it  _ was _ in an iffy area, but he'd never taken it for  _ dangerous. _

"I…" Lance frowned and huffed, flopping back in his seat and crossing his arms across his chest. "I look away from my drink for two seconds because the bartender asked me something and I look back to see some weird pop rocks-looking stuff disappearing in my glass." Lance looked at Shiro to see if he had his attention. Shiro nodded for him to continue and the other man sat up slightly, starting to gesture along with his story. "So I ask the guy what the heck he just did. He swears up and down he didn't do anything. But like… I didn't exactly order a shot with pop rocks in it, right? So obviously he did something. Right? Then he has the nerve to push it towards me and suggest a toast, trying to get me to drink it anyway?" 

Shiro couldn't help but notice how Lance's gestures increased in intensity as he started to get more heated about the topic. "Like heck no, I'm not going to drink that. Guy has the nerve to say 'it's rude to refuse a drink when a guy is trying to be nice to you'. Right. Sorry. Let me just get drugged so I'm not rude. So I tell him trade drinks, then I'll drink it. Because I figure he's not going to dose himself, right?" 

Shiro nodded slightly, wondering if he looked as horrified as he felt at the idea that could happen in a place he'd been to before. 

Lance scoffed, waving his hands emphatically, the back of one hitting into his cup and making it teeter perilously before settling down. "So--big surprise here--the big guy won't drink it. So I threw it in his face and called him a rapist piece of shit." He shrugged, flopping back in his seat. "And then his buddy comes along and kicks me out for 'making a scene'. Can you believe that?" 

Shiro worried at his lip for a moment before nodding. "Unfortunately, I can. People are…" Shaking his head, he sighed. "You always have to be careful. It's just good that you noticed what was going on." 

Practically preening at the praise, Lance nodded. "Definitely. I always try to. But I just…" The smaller man sighed, seeming to deflate visibly as he drew his knees in close and his feet up onto the seat, sitting half sideways on his left hip. "I don't think I can go back there. It'd be… I don't trust it, them, any of it. Kinda put a damper on my evening too, y'know?" Looking over at him, Lance yawned before cracking a smile that seemed forced around the edges but genuine. "Still, can't complain about meeting the only  _ actually _ nice guy around here and getting a free coffee out of it." 

A slight laugh escaped the older man at that and Shiro couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. "And I can't complain about the company and the conversation. But it's getting late…" 

"Maybe…" Lance started before pausing. "Maybe it's a conversation we could… pick up another time…?" The hopeful tone was almost painfully blatant and Shiro froze in surprise before smiling and nodding. 

"I'd like that. If you give me your number then… maybe… dinner?" Shiro dared to venture, tugging his phone free from his pocket and unlocking it before offering it out. Lance hesitated before taking it, punching in a new contact. A moment later, Shiro heard a disembodied buzz that was probably Lance's phone as he offered Shiro's phone back. 

Seeming suddenly almost jittery with nerves, Lance dropped his feet to the ground and all but shot to his feet, fidgeting. Shiro couldn't help but startle at the sudden motion. "So uh… yeah. Dinner. Food. Sounds… good. Sometime. We should… yeah. Text me?" 

Standing more slowly, Shiro nodded, moving to grab both of their empty cups and the one empty water bottle before tossing them in the nearby trash. "Definitely will." 

Lance didn't leave right away, instead waffling by their table until Shiro came back, looking at his new acquaintance--friend? more than?--curiously. "It was, uhm… It was nice to meet you, Shiro. Even with the… circumstances. Y'know? And… thanks." He hesitated for a moment before launching upwards and Shiro felt the warm press of soft lips on his cheek. Shiro froze in place even as Lance offered a floppy sort of wave and turned to dart out of the coffee shop, leaving Shiro alone to process the evening for a moment before heading home himself. 

Definitely not how he'd been expecting his evening to go. 

**Author's Note:**

> Also find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MihaelKai/) & [Tumblr](http://mihaelkai.tumblr.com/)


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